PINE BLUFF -- A cardboard box full of plaques given as medals of valor to Pine Bluff police officers involved in a 2013 standoff that ended with the fatal shooting of a 107-year-old man was returned Thursday to the mayor's office.
Only four of the 12 officers who were awarded the plaques were present for the short exchange that involved the officers' attorney, Lee Short, and Alderman George Stepps, who agreed to take the medals to the mayor's office.
The officers stood solemnly behind Police Chief Jeff Hubanks as the medals were returned. Neither the officers nor Hubanks commented.
"We have decided that it is in the best interest of the citizens of Pine Bluff and the law enforcement community for us to voluntarily return our medals of valor," Short read from a prepared statement. "We have dedicated our lives to serving the citizens of Pine Bluff; however, due to the comments of a few people, the medals have made it more difficult for us to serve and protect our community, rather than improving relations with the citizens we serve, which is our ultimate goal."
The statement went on to say the medals were intended as recognition of the efforts police make, without regard for their own safety, to protect citizens.
"Even though we are returning the medals, for us, that is what they will continue to symbolize," Short said. "On that day each of us faced the possibility of losing our lives from a real .357 Magnum with hollow-point ammunition. In spite of the criticisms and attacks, we will continue to serve and protect each individual in Pine Bluff with great pride."
Stepps said he hoped the return of the medals would help the community and council move on.
"I hope this addresses some of the concerns in the community and we can get back to work," he said.
Stepps said he didn't know if the plaques will be stored or destroyed. That will be up to Mayor Debe Hollingsworth, he said.
The plaques were given to the officers after a standoff Sept. 7, 2013, that ended with police fatally shooting Monroe Isadore at a residence where Isadore rented a room.
The shooting drew national attention and remains a divisive subject within the Pine Bluff community. The division led City Council members to vote unanimously in July for a resolution rescinding all of the medals.
Isadore had a pistol and shot at the door after officers arrived on the scene. He fired two more shots before members of the department's SWAT team kicked in the door and shot him, according to a police report.
An investigation by special prosecutor Jason Barrett of Little Rock concluded that officers acted within the scope of their job when they returned fire in Isadore's direction and killed him. A federal lawsuit filed in September 2014 against the city, Hubanks and Sgt. Brad Vilches, who shot Isadore, was dismissed in a summary judgment.
Those who received medal of valor recognition were Vilches, officer Anthony Kirkpatrick, former officer Joshua Lamb, Lt. Billy Dixon, Lt. Donna Fratesi, Sgt. Brett Talley, Sgt. Jason Howard, Sgt. Marcus Smith, officer Roger Gray, former officer Marquis Blake, officer Phillip Gober and officer Ryan Moheeb.
Only nine of the plaques were returned Thursday. Lamb and Blake no longer work for the Police Department, according to Pine Bluff Public Information Officer Lt. David DeFoor, and the other plaque belonged to an officer who wasn't working Thursday. That plaque will be returned.
An additional plaque -- a lifesaving award given to Vilches -- also was returned.
In July, Alderman Thelma Walker introduced the resolution demanding that Hollingsworth order the officers to return the medals of valor. She continued to press for their return at the City Council meeting Monday after Hubanks initially balked at the directive, saying the decision to award the medals was his and did not require Hollingsworth signing off on the decision.
Hollingsworth sent an email to Hubanks on Tuesday informing him that the council had set a deadline of noon today for the return of the plaques. The Police Department announced late Wednesday afternoon that the plaques would be returned.
Walker said Thursday that she was glad the officers complied, but she blamed Hollingsworth for the delay.
"The mayor could have prevented this if she had directed the chief to have them turned in after the resolution passed," Walker said. "It was then the mayor came up with that a resolution was just a statement and not enforceable."
The council's directive Monday called for the plaques to be returned to the chairman of the public safety commission. Walker is that chairman, but she refused to accept them and was not present Thursday when the plaques were returned. She said it wasn't her job to accept the medals, it was the mayor's.
Walker said the return of the plaques might help Isadore's family find some closure.
"I think they were terribly upset and they were trying to heal, and then it came out that someone had received a medal for killing their father," Walker said. "It was just extremely upsetting."
Attempts to reach Marilyn Monroe Isadore, one of Isadore's daughters, were unsuccessful Thursday afternoon.
Bill Winegard, president of the Pine Bluff Fraternal Order of Police, said in a prepared statement Thursday that the directive to return the plaques represented "a new low" in civic governance.
"Led by council member Thelma Walker, some of this city's bravest and most heroic officers have been shamefully and needlessly dragged through a pointless ordeal," Winegard wrote. "Walker wants the public to believe these officers were given awards for killing Monroe Isadore, who had barricaded himself in his house and pointed a large-caliber weapon repeatedly at his family and caregivers, and fired upon police officers.
"Isadore was begged to give up. Non lethal means were deployed. He chose to keep firing. Heroic members of the Pine Bluff SWAT team ultimately had to perform a duty no officer ever wants to do. It is that courage, not their final necessary act, for which they were recognized."
"Even with Walker's relentless hostility and verbal attacks, these men and women have continued to serve the citizens of Pine Bluff with dignity and respect and uphold the oath they took when they started their tour of duty. Walker should take a page from their play book and do the same."
Short said the emotion surrounding this case wasn't limited to Isadore's family, but is also shared by the police officers.
"Obviously it is hard for them," he said, "because finally someone says thank you for putting their lives on the line and then it is taken away."
State Desk on 08/19/2016